Forgiveness

Forgiveness is when someone stops having bad feeling towards another person.

Example: if somebody hurt your feelings, you will feel upset or angry towards that person. If you forgive that person, it means that you have removed the bad feelings and is not upset or angry with that person any more.

To forgive someone is a good deed.

There are 2 types of Forgiveness

A) Forgiveness from Allah.

B) Forgiveness between people.

Forgiveness from Allah’s

Do you remember the story of Sayyidina Adam and Sayyida Hawa and how Ibis (Saytan), was dishonest to them and led them on the wrong path? Allah became unhappy with them and took them out of Jannah and put them on earth. This made them very sad. They begged Allah for Forgiveness. Allah accepted their dua and forgave them. In surah Mu’minoon, surah 23 verse 118, Allah commands us…

“So say, all my lord! Forgive and have mercy! For you are the best of those who show Mercy!”

The words Bismillaahir RahmaanIr Raheem, which means, “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most merciful” (forgiving) appeared 114 times in the Quran.

This alone shows how forgiving Allah is. 2 www.GardensOfSunnah.co.uk

Forgiveness between people.

We spend every day of our lives amongst people. People sometimes make mistake and hurt or harm each other in some way or the other.

How would you feel if someone?

A) Told lies about you;

B) Backbites about you;

C) Insults you;

D) Was rude to you.

You feel angry and want to take revenge (do the same to that person).

But, as a Muslim we must not behave in this manner.

We must be able to control our anger and be willing to forgive the person who may ask us to forgive him.

If Allah is so forgiving towards us, then we must also be forgiving towards others. In Islam all Muslims are brothers and sisters of one another. Therefore, we must all think good about our brothers and sisters in Islam. We must try to overlook, forgive and forget their fault and mistakes. If we do not forget anyway and then Allah will not be happy.

Our beloved Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has said: It is not permissible for a man to keep apart from his brother for more than three days, the one turning away and other turning away when they meet. The better one of the one who is first to make the salaam.

Just as you need to forgive someone for their mistakes you also need for forgiveness if you have hurt anyone. 3 www.GardensOfSunnah.co.uk

The best example for forgiveness

The best example for forgiveness is our beloved Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), he was always ready to forgive other for some mistakes. The Prophet has said: I ask forgiveness from Allah and turn to him in repentance (forgiveness) more than seventy times a day. (Our beloved Prophet may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is free from sin, this was to teach the Ummah how to seek forgiveness).

Here is a story about forgiveness

The Road to paradise

One day, our beloved Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was sitting in the Masjid with his Sahaabah (companions).

He told them, the next person who enters the masjid is a person of jannah. A man entered the masjid, and all the Sahaabah recognised him.

Following day, the same thing happened, Our beloved Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) told his Sahaabah that the next person to enter the masjid is one of the people of Jannah, and the same man came in.

On the third day, the incident was repeated, the same words, the same man. One of the Sahaabah was puzzled by all this. He wondered what this man had done to deserve such a great reward. How many extra nafl salaah did he make? How often did he fast? How many zakaah and Sadaqah did he pay?

If you could learn this man’s secret it would be a great lesson and a benefit for himself and other Muslims. So, he thought of a way he could find out more about this man 4 www.GardensOfSunnah.co.uk

The Sahabi found an excuse to visit the man and went to his house. He asked to stay there for three days.

The man welcomed his brother in Islam into his house and made him comfortable. The Sahabi said nothing about the real reason for his visit, but he watched the man closely.

He saw him performing the five daily salaah on time, without missing the sunnah prayers but not reading any extra nafl salaah. The man did not fast every day, although the Sahabi knew that he fasted in Ramadan and kept nafl fasts when he was able to.

Naturally, the Sahabi was still puzzled. By the end of his three days stay, he still did not find the man doing anything unusual.

He asked the man what it was that Our beloved Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) like so much about him. The man could not, at first, think of a reason. “You have seen me, this is all I do,” he said.

And then he remembered: “There something else I do,” he said. “Every night, before I go to sleep, I forgive all those people who may have harmed me in any way. I empty my heart of hatred towards them.”

This was the reason for Our beloved Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) saying that this man will enter Jannah. He did not hate anyone who harmed him. He forgave them freely. He performed all the salaah and other ‘Ibaadaat required of a Muslim.

The quality of forgiveness was for him the road to paradise/Jannah.

Therefore, it is very important:

1. For us to forgive others.

5 www.GardensOfSunnah.co.uk

2. For us to ask others for forgiveness.

3. To ask Allah for forgiveness every day.